Collection agency not willing to remove negative items

Got ya, happens to me often. LOL.

I am finding it harder to even turn on the computer now. Since going back to work, the weather getting nicer, and all the yard work..sometimes I feel dead.

I contact the collection agency that handles the HSBC account and was told they could not delete the or remove the charge off. The account charge off in 2006, she said the account is 897, but shows 843 on my credit report, she wants to settle at 843,but I requested 50-60% she said that is not doable, please advise what steps to take now.

To pay or not pay is up to your own code of ethics. Im not going to go there. 8)

The Credit Reporting Statute of Limitations does not re-start.

The State Statute of Limitations does re-start if you:
a) Submit partial payment
b) Promise to send payment

While an item may drop off your credit report, if it is within your State's statute of Limitations on Debt Collection that the agencies can charge you interest etc. then the amount sued for in a judgment hearing can be significantly higher.

Some collections agencies will settle on that small amount for half while others do not settle on amounts under x amount.

You may get a pay for delete or not. It depends on the agency. Most agencies these days seem to be sticking to the Federal Credit Reporting Act, and will accurately update your report to note that you have paid the collection, your balance is zero and your status is current. The account will stay on your report. Never hurts to ask for a PFD though.

To Janie,

Settlements sometimes have to be approved by the Original Creditor if the collections agency is collecting on their behalf (outsourced debt collection) or may be up to the collection agency department if they have purchased your account outright.

For example, I had a capital one account in collections and the agency had to get capital one's approval before they accepted the settlement amount. On the other hand I also had a Nordstrom account where the collections agency accepted my settlement offer of 40% on the spot since they did not have any restrictions.

As far as getting the account deleted, it's a good possiblity that is not going to happen. The account will be updated to "Paid after charge-off" or "Paid Collection" but it will stay on your report until the Credit Reporting Statute of Limitations expires.

I think you should pay them off and then dispute the same with CRA. The logic behind paying is - it is easier to get removed the paid off items rather than disputing for the unpaid ones.

[Link deactivated as per forum rules. Thanks.]

Mr Akerley,
I so agree with you... if it is a matter of 75.00 and you owe it, pay it..we are getting to be a community of not paying what we owe, this is why the mortgage companies are in so much trouble... pay what you owe..
if you go to walmart and see a pair of shoes you like for 20$ you cant go to the manager and say I have 10$, I will give you that for this pair of shoes you are selling for 20$ because I dont want to pay that much

I agree with luisrodriquez. I think it would be much easier to ask for the deletion after the account is paid off. I might have to try this with a few I had paid in full. By the way, I'm a newbie. :-D hello everyone.

Hi mimi,

Welcome to our forums!

Yes, if the collection agency is not ready to remove the negatives, then it would be better if you could contact the credit bureaus and get the negatives deleted from your account.

This is very simple. If you want it removed, call the creditor and tell them you will pay it if they remove it from your credit report. I have done this in the past and it works every time. All they care about is getting their money. Make sure they send it to you in writting that they will remove it and on company letter head signed by the associate you are dealing with. Even though these are small amounts, they are still negative accounts and the dollar amount is not as critical as they fact they are two seperate debts that are reporting negative activity. This will have a very bad affect on your score and possiblity of receiving better credit offers in the future.

it's funny i was drawn to this forum again today...donnag, i just reread your post i which you agreed with me about the $75 debt. you stated that you can't just go to wal-mart, see a $20 pair of shoes and ask to pay $10 for it.

well...there's an article in USA Today (yesterday? today? - i forgot) that addresses just that scenario. apparently, bartering is far more prevalent in this economy than in a long while. people are doing just what you mentioned and actually succeeding. it's peculiar how things take place sometimes.

There are two problems with your Just Pay Them line of thinking Markley. If the account is any kind of credit account, the amount they are asking for now probably includes months and months of overlimit and late charges at rediculous, insane interest rates. Lets say you had an original debt of maybe $500 dollars and now two years later a collection agent is asking for $4,000. Should you just pay them?

Secondly a collection agent that purchased your account, paid fractions on the dollar of the original debt. They didn't provide you with a service, you had no agreement with them. Since they purchased that account for far less then what you owed, that makes the amount of the original debt irrelevant. The only amount that is now relevant is what they paid for the account, and you don't know what that is.

One additional problem and this one is big, most of these collection agencies will NOT report an account paid even AFTER you pay them. So if they aren't going to report the account paid on your credit reports what is the point of paying them in the first place. Some of them may even sell that now paid debt to yet another collection agency. The debt collection agency is only interested in bringing in as much money as possible, so things like going back and reporting accounts paid, are just a waste of agency resources to them.

Unless you have a lawyer ready threatening to sue them good luck in getting anything paid or unpaid removed from a credit report.

markley?

if someone can't be precise enough to respond correctly to another, then that person doesn't carry much credence with me.

it's true - collection agencies don't provide a service - horrors! and since we didn't pay the company that actually did provide a service, why go pay the one that doesn't?

and of course they won't comply with the law anyway, so it won't do us any good to pay them off.

my original post on this topic, way back last year, had to do with honor. my stance is this: if i created a bill, and i have the wherewithal to pay it, i will pay it. and even if i didn't have the wherewithal to pay it, i would make an attempt to get to that point so i could pay it off.

refusing to pay a debt that one incurred is not honorable, no matter how you slice it.

I have had a lot of experience with collection agencies for medical collection. One agency told me if I was to pay with credit card they would deleat it(which turned out to be true).

On another note, I still have a medical account from when I first turned 18 in 2004 for 1300. Its only reporting from experian though. The hospital where I got the bill has been closed down for 5+ yrs. Should I try to pay this or get it deleated?